May 14, 2013: In a statement released May 9, the bishops of Lithuania urged the government not to sign a European treaty, the convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

While lauding the goals of combating violence against women and domestic violence, the bishops noted that Article 4 of the treaty would introduce “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as categories in Lithuanian anti-discrimination law.

Article 12, which obliges nations to “promote changes in the social and cultural patterns of behavior of women and men with a view to eradicating prejudices, customs, traditions and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority of women or on stereotyped roles for women and men,” could cause Lithuanian cultural and religious traditions to be viewed as a threat to women, the bishops noted.

The bishops also expressed concern that Article 14, which mandates instruction in “non-stereotyped gender roles … in formal curricula and at all levels of education,” could pave the way for the promotion of homosexuality and “transsexualism” in Lithuanian schools.